Okay. Let me start off by saying this issue was crazy.

While I was reading it, the thoughts that went through my mind where these "What the hell!? Wraith?? What is she doing here? Superman already took care of her in the previous issue. And why are they stealing power from superheroes, if as shown in Superman Annual, Vandal Savage true goal was to expose himself to the radiation of the meteor that gave him his powers. What's all of this about??"

Honestly this comic was all over the place. Wraith was there when she shouldn't have been. Vandal is still stealing powers for whatever reason.

And what up with Clark battle armors?! In Unchained his armor lasted for like what it seemed to be 5 to 10 minutes. And now this upgraded version of the Metallo suit, powered by kryptonite, lasted just a little longer.

It might have lasted even longer if Clark didn't had to shield Wonder Woman from the reentry burn into Earth atmosphere.

Really at this point I'm nowhere near to understand what Vandal real goals are, and why it seems that only Clark got his powers permanently diminished. After all Diana as had her power drained twice already and she always manages to recover.

If this is how Savage Dawn is starting, in my opinion, it's not starting in a high note. Quite the opposite.

Here are the scans...

Superman has somehow damaged DNA and can't absorb solar energy properly or something like that, that's why he can't recover. Or is he recovering/recharging very slowly?

@denko069:

His DNA can't be that damaged when soon enough he's gonna discover that kryptonite can charge his powers.

Will it charge them completely? Will he regain his powers with that recharge? We'll have to wait and see.

But this is already starting to feel like, DC is gonna come up a really lameass excuse. To why only Superman seems to not be able to recover his powers. And why the heck other kryptonians worldwide are also being affected.

I started reading this, then wondered to myself why am I still reading the truth stuff, when the only part I actually enjoy is Superman/Wonder Woman

@quinnofthestoneage:

Because this issue will tie in to the next Superman/WonderWoman.

Without reading or knowing what this issue was about, in the next Superman/WonderWoman you'd only see a little bar on a page saying "As seen in Action Comics #48".

Look at the third scan. It pretty much explains why you should at least have a idea of what is happening in the other crossovers.

OK, for some reason, Superman looks awesome in a "spacesuit". Keeping my hopes up for the new year. Hope Superman can get back to some more Action Comics (pun intended)

@suemorphplus209:

Yeah the suit was cool. Not has cool has the one seen in Unchained but cool nonetheless.

Too bad is armors last so little before they get all trashed.

Also did you notice the little detail in the last page (3rd scan) with both of them with their hands held together?

It just comes to show that even in DC some people want Clark and Diana relationship to work.

He's Superman, even without his superpowers and the Justice League still very much needs Superman!! That's Pak for you baby. Pak is the Snyder to Superman's Batman. Also the Justice League are a bunch of morons that take orders from Lex Luthor, a man that can't be trusted, a villain turned hero, now the leader of the Justice League. Interestingly, in the absence of Batman and Superman, Wond...no...Lex Luthor takes the lead. And he must've somehow eluded Savage...

Comics...

@heavenlydarkdragon: Then what the f**k is happening to him? :D

@heavenlydarkdragon said:

It just bores me reading it though, guess I'll have to :(

Since when did the Justice League forget the number one rule is Never Trust Alexander Joseph Luthor?!!! Somebody smack some sense into them! I guess I need to go back into my cave and enjoy some anime or something.

@quinnofthestoneage:

You don't really need to.

This review pretty much covers all you'll need to know in the next Superman/WonderWoman comic.

Honestly at this point my best guess is this:

- It wasn't the Quarmers draining his power.

- It most certaintly wasn't the Flare power, after all Kara's Flare never left her depowered and pre-Flashpoint Superman doesn't have the Flare power, and still both of them had their powers affected.

- We know there's this meteor from Krypton solar system that carries with it some kind of exotic radiation, that gave Vandal his powers.

My best guess: It's related to the meteor. But it most likely affected Superman the most because he was exposed somehow during one of his depowered phases. And as such his DNA somehow changed. Just like it's exotic radiation also changed Vandal DNA.

At this point it's the only thing that makes any sense at all.

If it had only affected Superman, then we could blame it either on the Flare power or that it was a side effect, of Superman exposure to the Doomsday DNA.

@diehard200904: Aye indeed, without their natural leader, Superman, these gullible idiots are as lambs to the slaughter smh

It seems like it. Not only that but has seen in Superman Annual 3 Lex has already started to mess with the JL mainframe computers. Denying Clark acess to the systems.

I mean. Is everyone stupid without Bruce and Kal around?! If Lex found out Bruce secret identity through the events in Forever Evil. How much would it really take for him to steal all their secrets right from under their noses, so later when he's kicked out of the team he can use that information against them.

I can almost already see it happen sometime during 2016.

Oh, too late haha

I disagree. I think things are getting better after so many issues of this event have been sloppy and a mess. If they're lucky, this arc will range from okay to decent.

According to a review of this annual I read today, that big ship Savage is in is Stormwatch's old base which he's taken over somehow. Whether that is the Stormwatch base and whether it'll be explained how he got it from Stormwatch isn't clear currently but if it is, that will be a nice Easter Egg at least.

Yeah, I see it as Tower of Babel 2.0.

But the art was freaking gorgeus. I spent like 15 minutes admiring the whole damn thing. But yeah story was all over the place...but that art lol

@lvenger:

Yes it is. Vandal clearly stated that he took the Carrier, Stormwatch base of operations from them. Although how he managed to do that, is anyone's guess.

You know, I find it funny how a guy who's powers supposedly are just enhanced human physical feats and immortality, gets to take whatever he wants when he wants it.

I mean. Stormwatch members were no pushovers, and still he manages to simply take it.

And what's up with all that power theft? If the meteor from Krypton solar system was all he wanted as shown in Superman Annual #3 then why go to so much lengths?

To me it still doesn't make any sense at all.

@kenshima15:

That's true. The artwork was really good.

Sure, I still hate Clark hair style, but at least he didn't looked so buffed. It seems they're gradually making him look normal again.

That and how he acted. It's like he's learning to be Superman once again. He took point and charged head strong. He even risked his own life to protect Diana when if he was still in his mythbrawl mode, he would be like... "She'll be fine. She's a goddess now. Goddesses can't die. I got to punch Vandal's face while I can."

@heavenlydarkdragon: My mistake, this is your third post to me based on my notifications. Though in this case thanks for confirming what I heard from another reviewer that Savage commandeered the Stormwatch headquarters to carry out his big plans. It's kind of similar to Batman's hype, Vandal is an immortal with thousands of years worth of knowledge and experience and has vast resources to carry out his plan. He's like what Batgod might be if he were real in the DCU. Still, I should have known the annual wouldn't explain the slightly important ditty of how Savage took over Stormwatch's headquarters and beat members like Engineer, Jack Hawksmoor, Apollo and more. Likewise, the reviewer I mentioned earlier brought up your same point, what's the point of Savage wanting the power of these special meteorites? It makes no sense.

Honestly, I feel like Lex just subconsciously (and consciously) loves screwing with Superman and will take even the most petty of routes to do it.

As for why The League chooses to take cue from Lex, I always took it they realize he's clearly the smartest person on the team, he built their headquarters, I assume most of the tech their was created and funded by him, and all his stuff is on Earth so he has a reason not to see it blown up or taken over.

Plus, I think it opens up doors to use Luthor in more multifaceted ways in the future, and shows that the team is willing to put personal differences aside in the face of doing what's best for the mission. I mean, I don't think Aquaman likes taking orders from Batman. We know Hal doesn't. He has contingency plans to kill them should something go wrong.